Groundhog Day

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chinese ink painting on rice paper.

gift art for `MSJames, based on:

Feb 3rd

rain, snow
rain, snow
only the groundhog knows

selected from his haikuwrimo winter 2009 set.

translated into japanese by me:

雨と雪また雨と雪ブタ任せ
ame to yuki mata ame to yuki buta makase

Groundhog Day is an annual holiday celebrated on February 2 in the United States and Canada. According to folklore, if a groundhog emerging from its burrow on this day fails to see its shadow, it will leave the burrow, signifying that winter will soon end. If on the other hand, the groundhog sees its shadow, the groundhog will supposedly retreat into its burrow, and winter will continue for six more weeks.

i chose to translate groundhog as pig as it somehow looked like one (or else it wouldn't be named a 'hog' ). we leave it to the ' pigs' to decide the weather. in view of the recent swine flu this could probably sound a little ominous.

also in japanese buta sounds a little like 'buddha'. is this lowly animal also some kind of a god?

hope you like it, mike.

paper texture by `hibbary.